Hey guys, hope y’all are all doing well. Bought my first ranger yesterday, and it’s a 1994 XLT with the 2.3 litre and 5 speed. Runs great, cranks on a dime everytime, but it just seems like there’s not a whole lot of power there. I’ve heard that the 2.3 is extremely gutless but I figured it’d have enough power to get up a small hill at 65-70 miles an hour. It doesn’t miss or stumble, but my speed will decrease even when dropping a gear. I just wanna be able to keep up with traffic at 70 miles an hour without losing a ton of speed. Any ideas on what it could be?

 

Welcome to the forum

You have a 2.3l Lima SOHC engine, was first used in 1974 Pinto, so older technology
1994 2.3l is rated at 100HP
These 2.3l Limas were used in Mustangs for many years, so it can get out of its own way
It has a low power to weight ratio but a very reliable engine

Change fuel filter, every 5 years, and clean/check air filter, if either is dirty it will slow you down

O2 sensors last 100k miles or 12 years, these are the ONLY sensors that wear out, they use a chemical to detect oxygen and it gets used up
Causes low MPG and less power

I would test compression first, compression = power on uphill slopes
165psi is expected in 1994
If all 4 cylinders test lower(140s) then could be time to change the timing belt, they can stretch when older, expected life is 80k miles
If timing belt is not right on then loss of compression/power is the result
Its a non-interference engine so broken or slipped belt won't hurt the engine

Check that all 8 spark plugs are working
Unplug either coil packs 3 wire connector
Start engine
Should idle smoothly no steady misfire, this means all 4 spark plugs and wires on working coil pack are OK
Then switch
test other coil pack and its 4 spark plugs the same way

This is the only way to test if both coil packs are working and all 8 spark plugs, do this test once a year or ??

Dual spark plugs add power, that's the point of using this setup, so there is no alternating or other "mystery"
Switching to 4 valves per cylinder added even more power, so better use of head real estate than dual spark plugs so this was short lived in Rangers

Ranger got the 2.3l Duratec engines in 2001, totally different setup and engine, so searches using "Ranger 2.3l" can get mixed results

1989-1994 2.3l Limas are not compatible with 1995-2001 2.3l/2.5l Limas, for swaps, in case it ever comes up